


Legacy

by adventuresofcomicbookgirl



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3431525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventuresofcomicbookgirl/pseuds/adventuresofcomicbookgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short fic I wrote waaay back in October for FMA Day, finally uploaded here. While vacationing in Xing with Ed and Al, Winry suffers a great loss and ends up confessing her woes to Lan Fan in the palace's automail workshop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legacy

"Winry? Is everything all right?" 

Winry set down the letter, biting the inside of her cheek hard. Damn Ed for deciding to be emotionally perceptive at the worst moment. She couldn’t. Not right now.

"Yeah….I just….need to go to the bathroom…must have eaten something bad at lunch…"

"Hey, I resent that, that lunch was expertly prepared-" Ling began, but Winry didn’t wait for him to finish. She rushed away, taking the letter with her. She chose one of the palace’s many rooms at random and burst inside, locking the door behind her. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Then she slid down into a crouch and began to cry. 

She should have been there…she should have…what was she going to do…

"Winry?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin. Lan Fan seemed to form from the shadows of the room, like she’d been a shadow herself until now. Winry finally noticed through the blurry veil of tears that she was in an automail workroom. God, of course she’d been drawn here.

"H…hi…Lan Fan….I’m sorry…"

Lan Fan shook her head and knelt down in front of Winry. “Is there anything I can do?”

The soft expression on the other girl’s face was surprising. She usually looked so fearsome. …but then, Ed was usually around when Winry was with her, and he tended to bring that out in people.

"There’s really…nothing you can do…" Winry said in a trembling voice, wiping her face.

"Why?"

It was such a blunt question that it automatically forced out an answer. “Because my granny’s dead, okay? She died while I was here in a foreign country and nobody can do anything about that!”

Saying it out loud was like punching herself in the stomach. She could barely breathe and more tears came, thick and fast. “Oh no…oh no…it’s just too…”

Lan Fan put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Should I get the- should I get Ed? And Al?”

Winry shook her head hard, sending tears flying. “I have to pull…pull myself together before I can tell them. Sh-she’s their granny too, she raised us all..” Her stomach clenched when she imagined what the look on Ed’s face would be…she’d seen it many times before…his eyes would tremble a little as he held back tears. Al would cry though….

She grabbed handfuls of her hair, tearing at it as her heart sped up in her chest. “I should have been there…! I should have…! I went on a stupid vacation and left her all alone, I left her behind, I hated being left behind but I left her behind and she died alone, alone just like my parents…”

Lan Fan took Winry’s hands and pulled them away. Her grip was gentle but strong. 

"Did she want to go on the vacation with you?"

Winry let out a hysterical little bark. “Her exact words were “hell no, I hate the desert”. 

"All right, you shouldn’t feel guilty then."

"But I shouldn’t have left on my own! You don’t understand-"

"I do. My grandfather died before I could get to his side as well."

Winry’s breath caught in her throat and her tears seemed to freeze on her face. “Oh. I…I’m…”

"Don’t be sorry," Lan Fan said queitly. "Is there anything you’d like to do to help you calm down?"

Winry’s eyes flicked to Lan Fan’s automail. The little grooves, the way the blade joined with it…  _Mesmerizing. Granny would have loved it._

Lan Fan noticed where Winry’s gaze had wandered and gave a small smile. “I was actually in here because I was trying to figure out why my automail keeps jamming up lately. I hear you’re a great mechanic. Would you like to take  a look?”

—-

Winry’s hands slowly stopped shaking and her tears dryed on her face as she focused on inspecting the tiny gears and wires. Lan Fan laid patiently on the operating table. When Ed and Ling came by calling for Winry, she called “She’s working on my automail! Please don’t disturb us!” 

After their footsteps receded, Winry muttered “thanks”.

"Not a problem."

"I think I know what’s wrong. The weight and interference of your blade and heave forearm plate has strained and weakened your elbow joint. I can rebuild it so there’s a lighter blade that’s just as sharp, a lighter plate, and also I can reinforce the joint. Does that sound good?"

"That sound great," Lan Fan said as Winry slid her blade out of her arm. "Thank you. We still don’t have many people familiar with automail in Xing, and nobody I’ve ever met seems to know as much about it as you."

"My Granny taught me," Winry said, her stomach clenching a little. She’d managed to force herself not to think about it, just for a second, but now it was all rising up again, like bile rising in her mouth.

"I…owe everything to her. Watching her just build something incredible and beautiful out of a few scattered parts…then seeing the smiles on people’s faces when she gave them a way to stand up again…I wanted to be just like her…my entire life was shaped by that…" Winry felt an impossible weight  bearing down on her.

Lan Fan nodded, sitting up. “It was the same for me with my grandfather. My parents died doing their duties when I was very young.  He taught me everything about martial arts, weapons, protecting people…he would look so… _cool_ … when he was working. Like he could take on the world… I did everything I could to follow in his footsteps.” She sighed, looking wistful.

"My parents died when I was very young too…now my entire family…is gone…" Winry put her hand to her forehead, tears gathering in her eyes again. "I wasn’t there when my parents passed…I wanted to at least be there for her…"

"I was not at my grandfather’s side when he died, but I saw it. Trust me, seeing it isn’t….it isn’t really what you want." Lan Fan hesitated. "Were you told how she died?"

"In her sleep."

Lan Fan looked a little nonplussed. “Well…but…I don’t…think you being there would have made much of a difference then.”

Winry couldn’t help but laugh, though it came out as more of a sob. “I guess you’re right. Sorry, I guess my grandmother passing of old age doesn’t really compare to what you went through.”

Lan Fan shook her head, her eyes sad. “It’s not like I hadn’t expected him to pass the way he did. He was performing his duties. I decided the best way to honor him would be to continue his work and…perform mine.” She looked down at the tools in Winry’s hands. “You’re the same as me. You’re continuing your grandmother’s legacy.”

Tears spilled down Winry’s cheeks. “I…I hope so…” she muttered. “I hope she’d be proud…but if I’d really been as dedicated, I’d have been at the shop with her until the very end…”

"Oh come on," Lan Fan said impatiently. The fierceness that Winry usually saw in her eyes was making a slight reappearance  "You’ve been messing with the runt’s…I mean…."

"I know who you’re talking about, it’s fine," Winry said. Lan Fan’s consternation curved her lips into a shaky smile against her will. She wondered how much it would tick the other girl off if she pointed out that Ed was a head taller than her these days.

"Okay, well, you’ve been messing with his automail this whole trip! What did you come to Xing for in the first place!"

"Well…" Winry hesitated. "I wanted to see you and May and Ling of course…but this is the trial run for the new desert automail I designed for Ed and I wanted to make sure it didn’t malfunction on the journey over, I’d feel terrible if…"

"See?" Lan Fan exclaimed with a triumphant look. "You were doing your duty, just as your grandmother taught you. You have successfully revolutionized automail. Your grandmother would be proud of you."

Winry couldn’t help but blush a little. “Well…y-you protected Ling and helped him become emporer! So you… completed your grandfather’s mission!”

Lan Fan flushed a little as well. “I…I guess…” She looked down at the blade in Winry’s hand with a soft smile. “It’s not over yet though. To truly see it through to the end, I’ll need to protect the Young Lord through his entire reign.”

"And I have to keep making the best automail I can or Granny will be angry," Winry said, wiping her eyes.

Lan Fan nodded. “Are you ready to tell Ed and Al now?”

"Yeah." Winry put her blade down on the table. and clenched her fist. "I think I am."

Lan Fan jumped up from the table and put her hand on Winry’s shoulder. “You can do it. You haven’t lost your whole family, remember. It’s even clear to an outsider like me that those boys are your very troublesome relatives.”

"And it’s clear to an outsider like me that you still have family in Ling."

Lan Fan’s face went beat red. “I…” she looked away from Winry. 

Winry let out a laugh, and though it was shaky and strained, it didn’t sound like a sob this time. “Thanks for everything, Lan Fan. You helped me face this.”

Lan Fan nodded , the red receding from her face. “Thank you for the tune-up…and for offering to rebuild my automail.”

"I’ll give you the best automail I can so you can carry out your important duties,"  Winry said. She bent down and picked up the letter she’d left crumpled on the floor. 

_I promise, Granny,_ she thought to herself as she smoothed it out.  _I won’t let you down either._


End file.
